These Are the Moments by Jenny Bravo Read Free Book Online Page A

You’re still coming… right?
    SGuidry4: Well, I talked to Erica.
    Of course.
    SGuidry4: She fought with me all night about it. And I kind of told her that she could come with me.
    WMLake3: You invited your girlfriend to my party?
    It wasn’t the craziest idea in the world. Except that a month into dating, she suddenly wanted to come around. Simon had made a clear divider. Friends on one side, girlfriend on the other. This was screwing everything up.
    SGuidry4: I know. I’m really sorry. Trust me, it’s not my first choice. I just don’t know what to do. Other than not coming at all.
    WMLake3: Yeah. I get it.
    SGuidry4: Are you mad at me? Should I just not come?
    She didn’t know which was worse. On the one hand, she hated the idea of seeing him with needy, clingy Erica. On the other hand, she’d built this night up in her head. All of them around the bonfire. Talking. Drinking their non-alcoholic egg nog.
    WMLake3: I’m not mad. I get it. I really do.
    Mom yelled from downstairs, “Wendy, the bathroom!”
    WMLake3: I gotta go. I’ll see you tonight. Or not.
    As she scrubbed the toilet, she felt guilty. She’d been caught off-guard, but she didn’t mean to be rude. He was in a predicament. He’d needed his friend to give him some kind of objective guidance.
    But that was the thing.
    She wasn’t objective. Not even a little.
    “I’m wearing a green scarf,” Reese texted. “You can’t talk me out of it.”
    “Wouldn’t dream of it,” she texted back.
    None of her friends knew that she had a crush on Simon. That’s what it was. Just a crush. And yes, she’d told herself never to feel that way about him, and yes, she’d promised herself. But Simon was different. He was arrogant, but not in the ways that mattered. He was deep and sensitive and he cared about her. He listened.
    “Getting excited?” Mom poked her head into Wendy’s room. Wendy smashed powder on her face.
    “Yeah, I am,” she said.
    Mom took a seat on the bed, her mouth lined in red lipstick. “Your friends all coming?”
    “Yeah, I think so. Most of them.”
    “Simon?”
    Mom knew Wendy liked him. She’d met him a few times, and given him her unprecedented stamp of approval. And even though Wendy never admitted it out loud, Mom always knew.
    “Yeah, maybe. He might bring Erica. Or he might not come at all.”
    Mom frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
    “What doesn’t?” Wendy said from inside of her closet, pulling a red sweater over her head.
    “You two are close. If I were Erica, I’d want to see my competition too.”
    “I’m not competition,” Wendy said.
    “Sure you’re not,” Mom said, winking, and leaving the room cryptically. It was a let me leave you alone to think power play. Mom. She was good.
    Reese showed up first, clad in her green scarf, with her mom. Reese’s mom, Rita, was a hippie, just like she’d said. Rita wore gaucho pants and her hair was long and tangled. She grew her own herb garden and drank spring water when available.
    “Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” she said, hugging Wendy. “I’m gonna go help your mom.”
    “So I heard,” Reese said the second Rita walked away.
    “About?”
    “About Erica, of course. Owen told me everything. Apparently, there was this massive blow-up about how Simon never invites her anywhere. A whole lot of drama. Do you know if she’s coming?”
    “No, and I honestly don’t want to think about it.”
    “Understood. Wanna go outside?”
    The kids from youth group gradually started showing up, and Dad pointed them in the direction of the bonfire. Wendy didn’t think about Simon. That much.
    Christmas music filtered through the speakers. Mom brought out a tray of hot chocolate for everyone, and they all drank from mitten-covered fingers. It was the first time Wendy had had a real party, and it seemed like it was going well. People were laughing. People were talking. Those were good signs.
    But.
    An hour into the party, Owen and Simon were